ICE: No immigration operation during ‘tragedies’

By The Associated Press

5 years ago

Edie Hallberg cries while speaking to police outside a Walmart store where a shooting occurred ... — Edie Hallberg cries while speaking to police outside a Walmart store where a shooting occurred earlier in the day as she looks for her missing mother Angie Englisbee, who was in the store during the attack in El Paso, Texas, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019. Multiple people were killed and one person was in custody after a shooter went on a rampage at a shopping mall, police in the Texas border town of El Paso said. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

Walmart employees comfort one another after an active shooter opened fire at the store in El Paso, Texas, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019. (Mark Lambie/The El Paso Times via AP)

From left, Melody Stout, Hannah Payan, Aaliyah Alba, Sherie Gramlich and Laura Barrios comfort each other during a vigil for victims of the shooting Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019, in El Paso, Texas. A young gunman opened fire in an El Paso, Texas, shopping area during the busy back-to-school season, leaving multiple people dead and more than two dozen injured. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Texas state police cars block the access to the Walmart store in the aftermath of a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas, Saturday, Aug. 3, 2019. Multiple people were killed and one person was in custody after a shooter went on a rampage at a shopping mall, police in the Texas border town of El Paso said. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)

EL PASO, Texas — U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says the federal agency does not conduct immigration enforcement operations “during tragedies” such as the shooting in El Paso, Texas.

ICE spokeswoman Leticia Zamarripa says the statement was issued Sunday afternoon in an effort to dispel “false rumors.”

Zamarripa says ICE agents immediately responded to aid local and state law enforcement officers as the shooting unfolded.

Saturday’s shooting at an El Paso shopping area left 20 people dead and more than two dozen injured.